It’s so close you can hear the smart phones ringing. The trade deadline is less than 24 hours away and here’s what’s cooking …

The big rumor

Of all the top-flight names that have been on the trade market in the last few weeks, the one that has not gone down in flames in recent days is Josh Smith.

The Atlanta Hawks are determined to move Smith before he hits free agency in the summer, hoping to get something in return for a guy who is not going to be back next year anyway.

The market for Smith has been disappointing, the Hawks have found, but they’re still prepared to go ahead with a move.

Of all the teams involved in scenarios for Smith, the one that has emerged as the frontrunner is the Milwaukee Bucks, sources told Sporting News on Wednesday.

The Bucks have the best combination of assets available, and they’re also willing to risk losing Smith in the summer, though there is a good chance he would agree to stay in Milwaukee for the right price.

Either way, the Bucks are feeling some pressure to hold on to a spot in the East playoff race, where they are at No. 8, with a .500 record.

Smith would give Milwaukee a good shot to reach the postseason for the first time since 2010, their only playoff appearance in the last seven years.

The Hawks have expressed interest in Monta Ellis. But Milwaukee wants to try the combination of Brandon Jennings, Smith and Ellis down the stretch.

The Bucks will not include either of their two promising young big men—John Henson or Larry Sanders—in a package for Smith.

But they can offer center Samuel Dalembert, whose contract expires this year, and some combination of additional assets. Ersan Ilyasova is possible, but his contract is prohibitive. The Hawks could choose to take back some other young players, including Tobias Harris and Ekpe Udoh, or Milwaukee’s first-round pick this year.

The Hawks are not dealing from a position of strength when it comes to Smith, but they are determined to cash in some value on him.

The other big rumor

If Garnett is to be traded, a source told Sporting News, it will be to the Clippers or not at all.

Boston is also putting to rest rumors about Rajon Rondo’s trade status—the Celtics are seemingly always in the market for a Rondo deal, but his knee surgery obviously damages his value, and the Celtics would only move him for the kind of deal they’d have gotten before the injury. That’s not happening.

Of Boston’s stars, then, that leaves Paul Pierce as the only prospect for a trade.

League sources pin that as a long shot, especially with Garnett staying put. Still, the Celtics are intrigued by the recent play of Jeff Green and the feeling is that he could blossom if he didn’t feel he needed to defer to Pierce. But Pierce remains one of the team’s most popular veterans, and shipping him off without getting full value would be a risky move.

All in all, no one has more difficult decisions to make in the next 20-plus hours than team president Danny Ainge.

Boston has played well lately, but Ainge has long held that he would not stick with veteran players out of sentiment and allow the Celtics to fall into the kind of mid-’90s rut that followed the departures of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

Though it might appear unlikely that Ainge would deal Pierce, it can’t be ruled out.